ORCHESTRA TO PRESENT "EUROPEAN ODYSSEY" MARCH 11 WITH STUDENT SOLOISTS

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Feb. 21, 2003 -- The Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra will present its fourth concert of this year's Commerce Bank Concert Series March 11 with a program entitled "European Odyssey" that will include descriptive music from across the European continent, and will feature this year's student winners of Southeast's Concerto and Aria Competition.

Student soloists selected to perform at this concert include Tyson Wunderlich of Altenburg, Mo., piano, and a quartet of student guitarists: Bryan Davidson of Wildwood, Mo., Gabriel Deutsch of Jefferson City, Mo., Patrick Rafferty of Jackson, Mo., and Jason Weaver of Cape Girardeau. The concert will be conducted by Sara Edgerton, director of the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra. It will take place at 8 p.m. in Academic Auditorium on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

The program will open with the rousing "Finlandia" by the great Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. Next on the program will be the enchanting "Rumanian Folk Dances" by the celebrated Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok. Also on the first half of the concert, the guitar quartet will perform a concerto for four guitars by the famous Italian Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. The first half of the program will conclude with French composer Hector Berlioz's lively "Hungarian March."

The second half of the program will consist of one of classical music's all-time masterworks, the "Emperor Concerto" for piano and symphony orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven, himself a virtuoso piano player without equal, wrote five concertos for piano and orchestra during his lifetime. Each of the five concertos breaks new ground in its treatment of both the soloist and the orchestral accompaniment; each of the five expands the scope of the soloist, the dramatic interaction between the soloist and the orchestra, and the expressive range of the concerto.

The "Emperor Concerto," Beethoven's last and perhaps greatest work in this form, is a marvelously dramatic and exciting work, with brilliant writing for the pianist, memorable melodies, and heightened expressivity. The concerto was both written and first performed in Vienna, Austria, in the first decade of the 19th century.

"This concert will take the audience member on a musical tour of Europe", Edgerton said.

"From the splendor of the brass fanfare in 'Finlandia' to the charming, sunny, Italian sonorities of the guitar concerto by Vivaldi, this concert will encompass many of the styles and traditions of European music. We are also thrilled to be able to present several outstanding Southeast student soloists and competition winners on this concert."

Tickets for the concert are now on sale and can be obtained by calling Southeast's Performing Arts Box Office at (573) 651-2265. Tickets also will be available at the door on the night of the concert. Ticket prices are $4 for students; $5 for Southeast faculty and staff, and senior citizens; $6 for general admission; and $10 for preferred seating. Shuttle buses to Academic Auditorium will run from the parking lot in front of Dempster Hall (in the 700 block of Henderson Street) beginning at 7:15 p.m. on the night of the concert.

For more information about the concert, please contact the Department of Music at (573) 651-2141.